In general, the propensity of boron nitride (BN) sheets to stack creates obstacles for their application as multifunctional materials despite their unique thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties.
For example, the exceptional thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties of high aspect ratio hexagonal boron nitride (BN) sheets make BN an attractive candidate for the design of multifunctional composite materials. However, similar to graphene, BN's propensity to restack after exfoliation, coupled with its chemical inertness, creates obstacles for its applications. While graphite, composed of only carbon, is known to be an electrical conductor, the different electro-negativities of boron and nitrogen result in BN being an insulator with a large bandgap (ca. 6 eV), a dielectric constant of about 5, and a breakdown voltage of 800 MV/m, suggesting a tremendous potential for electronic and energy storage applications.
In general, capacitors are currently being used with polymers that have low dielectric properties. Materials with higher dielectric properties generally cannot be used due to either processing constraints or low breakdown voltages.
Thus, an interest exists for improved multifunctional composite materials, and related fabrication methods. These and other inefficiencies and opportunities for improvement are addressed and/or overcome by the systems, assemblies and methods of the present disclosure.